UnAmerican: Paris.

I've had a wonderful opportunity to travel to Paris and London! Our trip started out with a weekend in Paris. I was expecting beauty, fashion, and stuck up people. Julia and I had rehearsed saying that we were fromCanada, hoping that they would like us a little more, but we never once had to lie! Everyone was helpful and kind to us. We were of course obviously tourist and were in more tourist spots, but I was still pleasantly surprised. We of course would have loved to be with someone who spoke French, but we managed. I'm not going to give you every detail of the trip, because I doubt you want to read that, but I'll give you some highlights. 

Everything in Paris is so grand and beautiful. I took a picture of almost every building I saw, telling Julia, "that looks important." I was also very surprised how big Paris is. Everything is pretty spread out and there's not a specific "downtown" like we expect from cities in America. We saw almost all of the major iconic images, but everything felt so surreal, especially the Eiffel Tower. I just couldn't believe I was standing in front of it. Julia and I also enjoyed the lifestyle. Most businesses closed from 3:30pm-7pm, so owners could enjoy a break. The cafés were usually opened all day though and we enjoyed drinking expresso, cappuccinos, and lots of wine #partnersinwine. The food was delicious. Fresh bread, cheese, and dessert do beautifully crafted, I didn't want to eat it. We treated ourselves to a three course meal at a local restaurant near our hostel. I had a baked egg with cream, steak (medium well =rare) with a cheese sauce and roasted potatoes, and a red berry tiramisu. I thought I was going to explode, but it was delicious. We spent almost 3 hours at the restaurant, which is what they expect you to do in France. 

We did both get pooped on by pigeons, the weather was a little cold and rainy, and I may or may not have got stuck in the doors of the metro and then separated from Julia....but we had a wonderful time in Paris and I'm so excited to explore London this week!